Influential Woman · Government Contracting | Consulting | Operations Management
Brenda Faust-Thomas
Founder and CEO, BFT Consulting
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Her Story
About Brenda
Brenda Faust-Thomas, IQSM-C, is an accomplished operations leader, federal contracting professional, Fractional Chief Operating Officer, and entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience leading complex federal, healthcare, and enterprise operations. She is the Founder and CEO of BFT Consulting and Natural Scentiments.
Through BFT Consulting, Brenda provides operations management, strategic consulting, governance, process improvement, and Fractional COO leadership to organizations seeking stronger operational structure, accountability, and performance.
Her federal contracting experience includes supporting major programs and initiatives for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Department of the Navy. Throughout her federal career, Brenda has led governance, project and contract operations, change management, compliance, training, stakeholder engagement, process improvement, and performance management initiatives in complex, highly accountable environments.
Brenda began her career in healthcare and advanced into executive leadership, ultimately serving as Chief Operating Officer for a major health insurance organization. In that role, she established and scaled operational infrastructure, built and led an executive team, strengthened organizational accountability, expanded provider networks, and helped generate significant provider and membership growth.
She later transitioned into federal contracting, where she played a key leadership role in CMS’s nationwide ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition. Brenda helped coordinate implementation readiness, technical training, testing, and stakeholder engagement across State Medicaid Agencies and U.S. territories, contributing to 100% compliance by the federally mandated deadline. This project required travel both CONUS and OCONUS. She later served in senior project and operations management roles supporting the Department of the Navy, USDA, FAA, and GSA.
Most recently, Brenda served as Governance Lead supporting GSA enterprise operations, where she provided oversight across technical, management, and administrative functions. Her responsibilities included governance, change management, compliance, service delivery, training, performance reporting, process improvement, and stakeholder engagement including working directly with the GSA Program’s leadership team. Her leadership contributed to improved service levels, stronger operational controls, and measurable process improvements. Her performance was consistently recognized for independent execution, leadership, communication, and results in complex federal environments.
Today, Brenda brings that same executive and operational experience to her work as a Fractional COO, helping business owners and organizations move from reactive operations to structured execution. She works with leadership teams to strengthen processes, clarify accountability, improve operational performance, and build systems that support sustainable growth. She has recently developed and completed her signature framework, Inside Operations™.
Brenda developed Inside Operations™ to give leaders a structured way to look beyond visible operational symptoms and better understand how their organization is working from the inside out. It brings together five established parts of organizational operations to help identify strengths, gaps, and where focused attention may improve performance.
In addition to her consulting and federal contracting work, Brenda is committed to entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community service. She operates Natural Scentiments, a health and wellness skincare brand recognized for supporting internship opportunities and workforce development in Virginia. As a result, in 2024, 2025, her business was awarded the Top Virginia Employer for Interns Award by the Virginia Talent and Opportunity Partnership. For the 3rd consecutive year in 2026, Natural Scentiments was awarded the Top Virginia Employers Award by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. She also serves as Regional Director for the Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce’s Northern Virginia region. The Council supports business growth, visibility, supplier readiness, workforce connection, and regional engagement across the Commonwealth.
Grounded in Christian values, Brenda believes strongly in education, discipline, service, and self-sufficiency. She is a Certified Christian Life Coach, bringing her commitment to personal growth, purpose, and service into the next chapter of her work. Through BFT Enterprises, she continues to expand her entrepreneurial efforts while strengthening BFT Consulting’s federal contracting, operations management, and Fractional COO services.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brenda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to consistent leadership, strong performance, hard work, and a willingness to keep moving forward. The values instilled in me by my parents, especially the importance of education and self-sufficiency, helped shape who I am both personally and professionally.
Throughout my career, I have also learned the importance of strong communication, building relationships, managing diverse stakeholders, and being able to lead through complex situations. Above all, my faith has been my foundation. With my education and training, I use the strength and ability afforded me to lead, and I have tried to use that gift to serve others, create opportunities, and make a positive impact wherever I am placed.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from my parents, particularly my father. He stressed the importance of education and being able to take care of myself. He taught me not to depend on someone else for my stability or my future, but to build the knowledge, skills, and confidence to create opportunities for myself.
That advice has stayed with me throughout my career. It taught me the importance of being prepared, continuing to learn, and having the confidence to make decisions that move my career and my life forward.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women to be intentional about where they want to go and disciplined about what it will take to get there. Think about where you want to be in the next five years, set goals, and begin building the skills and relationships that will help you get there.
I also believe strongly in networking and maintaining relationships. Every connection matters, and you never know when someone you meet today may become part of your professional journey years later. Do not become complacent or afraid to make a change. Sometimes career growth means making a lateral move before you can move forward. That is okay. What matters is understanding why you are making the move and how it supports your long-term goals.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges organizations face today is the need to control costs while continuing to operate efficiently and meet performance expectations. Restructuring and workforce reductions can place additional pressure on teams and expose gaps in processes, accountability, and operational leadership.
At the same time, those challenges are creating opportunities for experienced fractional executives. Fractional COO services allow organizations to bring in senior-level operational leadership without the cost of adding a full-time executive. I see this as an opportunity to help businesses strengthen their operations, improve processes, and build the structure needed for growth.
For government contractors and small businesses, changing federal priorities, vendor challenges, and supply chain disruptions also require leaders to remain flexible, prepared, and focused on operational performance.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are faith, education, hard work, self-sufficiency, leadership, integrity, and service. My Christian faith is the foundation for how I try to live, lead, and treat others.
I also place a great deal of importance on relationships. I believe in building genuine connections, maintaining a strong professional network, and helping others when I can. Whether in business or in my personal life, I believe we should continue learning, growing, serving others, and using our experiences to help create opportunities for those coming behind us.
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